I know I have at least one reader who is familiar with Washington politics and therefore sure to know all about this group, ActBlue; I hadn't, but this sounds like a positive development

David Strom:

ActBlue Is Toast?

Well, we don't know yet. But things look pretty bad for them according to The New York Times. 

The rats are leaving the sinking ship, all the lawyers are gone, as are most of the top leadership in a flurry of sudden resignations or suspensions, and the ActBlue union (Yes!, they have a union!) is writing alarmed letters to the Board of Directors. 

From the NYT:

ActBlue, the online fund-raising organization that powers Democratic candidates, has plunged into turmoil, with at least seven senior officials resigning late last month and a remaining lawyer suggesting he faced internal retaliation.

The departures from ActBlue, which helps raise money for Democrats running for office at all levels of government, come as the group is under investigation by congressional Republicans. They have advanced legislation that some Democrats warn could be used to debilitate what is the party’s leading fund-raising operation.

The exodus has set off deep concerns about ActBlue’s future. Last week, two unions representing the group’s workers sent a blistering letter to ActBlue’s board of directors that listed the seven officials who had left. The letter described an “alarming pattern” of departures that was “eroding our confidence in the stability of the organization.”

Strom: “Now you may think that shakeups at political organizations after election losses are nothing new, and you would be right. Except for the fact that ActBlue was the ONLY truly successful arm of the Democratic Party over the past few years, raising unprecedented amounts of money. Kamala Harris didn't lose for lack of money--she had more than any candidate could reasonably spend, setting records. 

“ActBlue is the goose that lays the golden eggs, and it is collapsing, likely because the way those gold eggs were laid is likely very, very illegal and the geese are coming home to roost. 

NYT:

According to the letter from the ActBlue unions, which has not been previously reported and was confirmed as authentic by three people briefed on its contents, the senior staff departures began on Feb. 21. That day, ActBlue’s customer service and partnerships directors, who had both worked at the group for more than a decade, left, according to the unions’ letter.

“Now, my primary mission is rest,” Alyssa Twomey, ActBlue’s departing vice president for customer service, wrote on social media. “After 14+ years of living and breathing all things ActBlue, it’s time for a reset. I’m taking an intentional pause before setting course for my next adventure.”

The next week, several other senior officials left, including the associate general counsel — who was the highest-ranking legal officer at ActBlue — the assistant research director, a human resources official, the chief revenue officer and an engineer who had spent 16 years building and maintaining the electronic pipes through which the group’s donations flow.

As these people left, Zain Ahmad, who was the last remaining lawyer in the ActBlue general counsel’s office, wrote in an internal Slack message on Feb. 26 that his access to email and other internal platforms had been cut off and that other messages he had posted in Slack had been deleted, according to a screenshot obtained by The New York Times. Mr. Ahmad is now on leave from ActBlue, according to a person briefed on the group’s staffing.

Please be advised that we have Anti-Retaliation and Whistleblower Policies for a reason,” Mr. Ahmad wrote.

"Whistleblower" is not something Boards of Directors and fellow workers want to hear. 

“It is widely--universally, actually--understood among people who have paid attention to ActBlue that it facilitates illegal campaign contributions by helping fraudsters funnel money through a technique called "smurfing."

“Smurfing is a scheme in which anonymous sources of big--huge--money funnels donations through straw donors using untraceable sources of funds--generally gift cards that have no identity attached to them. The donations are assigned to small dollar donors who have given a few tens of dollars in the past.

“Suddenly these "donors" on fixed incomes--usually lower-middle class elderly people--are "giving" tens of thousands of dollars, often in hundreds of donations a week--to candidates nationwide. When these "donors" are tracked down they had no idea that their identity had been stolen to funnel money through ActBlue. 

“Now you may think that shakeups at political organizations after election losses are nothing new, and you would be right. Except for the fact that ActBlue was the ONLY truly successful arm of the Democratic Party over the past few years, raising unprecedented amounts of money. Kamala Harris didn't lose for lack of money--she had more than any candidate could reasonably spend, setting records. 

“ActBlue is the goose that lays the golden eggs, and it is collapsing, likely because the way those gold eggs were laid is likely very, very illegal and the geese are coming home to roost. 

The likelihood that ActBlue has been systematically and knowingly breaking campaign finance laws is asymptotically close to 100%. [I had to look that up; basically, on a curve — ED] There is massive evidence to show it, and all that is left is to have a prosecutor put together a case and put it in front of a jury to say it is proven.